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Sticker shock for City Council candidate

Jacob Richards, a candidate for the Grand Junction City Council, said he didn’t know who put his campaign stickers on street signs and that he e-mailed supporters asking them not to do so.

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City residents can update addresses or register to vote at http://www.govotecolorado.com. Registration forms can be picked up at any Mesa County motor vehicle office or the election office, 544 Rood Ave., Suite 3A.

A candidate for an at-large Grand Junction City Council seat was working Monday to remove campaign stickers that had been placed on street signs in the downtown area over the weekend.

Jacob Richards said he didn’t know who plastered his campaign stickers, many on stop signs along 10th Street. Richards said he sent out an e-mail to supporters asking them to not place stickers on public property.

“It’s really disappointing from our point of view,” Richards said. “I definitely did not tell people to do that. We apologize to those people it impacted.”

Richards has been going door to door campaigning, handing out a sticker and an informational sheet about himself.

Grand Junction City Clerk Stephanie Tuin said the city received one complaint from a resident Monday about the stickers. As a general rule, campaign material endorsing a candidate is not allowed on public property or in the public right of way, Tuin said.

Spokeswoman Kate Porras of the Grand Junction Police Department said the department often deals with people placing campaign material on public property during campaign cycles. The department will notify the campaign, but “probably wouldn’t take action unless it became a persistent problem,” she said.

Placing stickers on street signs may constitute a charge of criminal tampering or possibly criminal mischief if police could prove who did it.

“At this point we don’t have anybody to charge,” Porras said.

Five candidates are in the running for the single at-large City Council seat. They are John Ballagh, Jim Doody, Aaron Norris, Joshua Wussick and Richards.

Bennett Boeschenstein and incumbent Sam Susuras are running unopposed for two other open seats.

Ballots for the April 5 mail-in election will be mailed out starting the week of March 14.